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Chandigarh, October 10 TV actress Shweta Tiwari today gave away prizes to the winners of Vardhman's Aao Bune contest from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. A function was held at the CII to honour state-level winners. Top three selected entries in each of the five categories were given prizes worth Rs 5,100, Rs 3,100, and Rs 2,100, respectively.

Mr Sachit Jain, executive director, Vardhman Group, who was present during the function along with Mr V.K. Goyal, chief executive, Vardhman Spinning and General Mills, said Shweta Tiwari had been chosen as Vardhman's brand ambassadress for the 'uniquely contemporary' image that she portrayed in her small screen roles.

"She strikes a fine balance between the traditional and the modern. That is what our product is all about. After Renuka Shahane, she has been our preferred ambassadress," he said.

Conscious of the respect she was being accorded, Shweta Tiwari made certain extravagant remarks about herself, her role in Balaji's soap "Kasauti Zindagi Ki" and also about her future acting assignments.

Untrained as an actress though, Prerna of Star TV soap has almost perfected the art of conversation. No wonder she handled queries with confidence, at one point even answering back, "In my first film Madhoshi, I may have overshadowed Bipasha Basu perhaps because people love my character on TV more."

Claiming that she would be selective while choosing films, Tiwari said cinema and TV were almost similar, expect for long breaks that cinema allows.

"If given a choice, I would prefer to be attached with TV because I don't like to sit idle. In films, there are long schedules that oblige you to wait for your turn to perform. On TV, you are rushing against time and your energy levels are forever high," she said.

Not naming any particular film directors she would like to be associated with, she said she would love to work with any director who could guide her talent with perfection.

"Even Shah Rukh Khan needs a good director for etching out a memorable performance," she said.

Having acted in "Kasauti…" for rather too long, she jumped to the defence of her producers when countered with a query about whether long-drawn projects inspired her.

"The length of any serials is determined through its TRP. If our serial is doing well, our producers have all the reason to prolong it. After all, they are business people," she reasoned. Once she admitted that art in India had more to do with business than with qualitative sustenance.

Mr Goyal said Vardhman's contest had been organised in 1,000 schools across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttaranchal and UP. "These contests are being organized to create awareness about knitting among the children of our country. It has already made an entry into the Limca Book of Records as the largest of its kind contest. There is also a lot of research being undertaken on knitting throughout the world. As per a market research firm in the USA, the number of knitters younger than 35 doubled between 1998 and 2000 to an estimated four million. Knitting is regarded as an antidote to stress," he added.

The winning entries were also displayed in the basement hall at the CII complex

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Two more television names, Vinay Jain and Shweta Tiwari, are floorboards bound this weekend. The duo feature in Navin Kumar's Hindi comedy Sharaarat, which has two people on the run to evade marriage.

Both end up in the same lodge and in the same room to evade their potential suitors. Though Jain has been doing theatre since long, his recent plays were Raell Padamsee's Two 2 Tango and Rehan Engineer's Sexual Perversity, while Tiwari had dabbled with theatre in her pre-television days.

Vinay Jain and Shweta Tiwari in Sharaarat Sharaarat is the latest on the Hindi floorboards to have telly names in the cast. Of late, most Hindi plays (at least the hardcore commercial ones) must have one familiar name from the small screen. Small screen stars are being used today to sell anything from soaps to insurance.

Their faces are as popular as Bollywood stars and they come, most importantly, at a lesser price — a fairly good bargain for any theatre producer.

As viewers tune in every day to watch them at the fixed hour, the stage provides an opportunity to catch up with them 'live'. Moreover, it also proves to be a sound deal for staging shows abroad.

Most of the plays tour Dubai and Muscat in the Gulf besides US and UK, especially the Gujarati ones. Satellite television has made these actors extremely visible with a large fan following of their own.

So whatever Tiwari does in the drama, she still remains Prerna — that's why the folks are coming to see it anyway. For those who know the business of theatre, it is just the right deal. While for the telly actor, theatre provides an opportunity to soak in, to take a break from saturation point in the daily soap world grind — it suits both the producer and the actor just fine.

So if you want to see Prerna's Sharaarat, go forth this Sunday to Manik Sabhagriha. We, for one, will look at it as a welcome relief from her kasautii with her male co-actors.

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